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Monday, February 25, 2008

We all know the phrase "when life throws you lemons make lemonade" and while I am not going to tell you that when life throws you pineapples you should made pineapple-ade, I do have admit that our kitchen counter tops did look like they were sprouting pineapples like mad this past week.

It started when Sunny, my wonderful produce guy cornered me near the okra "Hey! It's been a while since I saw pineapples on your blog!" Oh dear! He read the bits about himself then...maybe I should make him sound like he is Mark Wahlberg's perfect look alike?....Hugh, I digress..."Hmm, I did sorbet once at the very beginning...." He then pushed 3 perfect little pineapples down in my cart "Well then, that's settled! These should give you some materials to bake with!" I already had my hands full with baking this week, so I was unsure if I would get to them in time, but given that pineapples are the symbol of hospitality and good wishes, I could not refuse. You don't have to be anywhere special to see this exotic fruit on door bells, gates, napkins, calendars, jewelry, license plates. The South loves pineapples allright!

I know, I know...three pineapples are nothing to write home about and not enough to make pineapple-ade or be all hung up about. If only it had ended there! The very same day, my lovely neighbor C. dropped off a couple of pineapples because "they were on sale and we all know I can't bake but you can!". Two days later it was my mother in law who loves to shop huge discount stores and brought me three more. Let's pause a second: so far we have 8 pineapples..which is getting out there but still manageable...somewhat! Thursday, as I was leaving the catering kitchen, the produce delivery guy stopped by and after I signed the invoice, I saw him walking towards me with a pineapple in each hand. I started heading towards my car but he yelled "Hey! These fell off to the back during the trip, and I can't figure out which box they're from. Why don't you take them?" Before I could even say "no, thank you", there I was holding the fruits like a couple of newborn babies.

I was started to think that my Chinese fortune cookie from Sunday dinner reading "Go with the flow" was definitely coming true. Now I had a whole counter of the kitchen dedicated to pineapples...We went the easy routes first and juiced a couple which brought the number back down to eight. I made a quick ambrosia with one and took it to my mother-in-law's book club; it is the ladies' favorite and all were happy. That night I made a fruit salad and stewed pineapples for crepes...down to six. What next? Jam! That would knock down a couple,easy...! Then one for a special verrine for Old Chef and one for these cheesecakes...and now I have the more reasonable two pineapples on the counter. Gee! That reminded me of the time the Exec. Chef kept ordering case after case of pears like they were going out of production!

We had the cheesecakes Saturday night at the end of a casual dinner (charcuterie, cheese, bread, salad and wine) shared with another couple. I used ground almonds in the crust as well as ginger cookie crumbs and since I have tonka beans stored in the fridge I grated one in the batter to impart that bitter almond taste that I love so much. Before I get emails and comments about these: yes, I am aware that they contain coumarin which is a blood thinner but I will say that you have the option of using almond extract if you are worried about this. I am no kamikaze either but I figure that one grated bean divided among four cheesecakes is fine, no to mention that I bake with them once every other month...Be responsible and eat everything in moderation (butter, sugar, oil and tonka beans...).

I used fresh cut pineapple in the batter and I caramelized cut slices of the fruit for the topping, using the pan juices to drizzle on the plate. I wrote the recipe for four 4 inch round cheesecake springform pans, but to change the presentation a bit, I cut each unmolded cheesecake into a square. Feel free to leave them whole (kind of a large portion for one person) or to split them up. You can also make one 8 inch cheesecake with the same amount of batter if you want. Since he kitchen looked more like a pineapple field this past week, I am sending this entry to Cookthink Root Source Challenge #2.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium size bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs,almonds, sugar and the melted butter. Divide among 4 mini springform pans lined with parchment paper and pat with your fingers until evenly distributed. Bake 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 300F.In a large bowl, with the stand mixer or hand held one, mix the cream cheese and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. Add the tonka bean or almond extract, and the lemon zest. Fold in the diced pineapple. Divide between the springform pans. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until they wiggle just a tiny bit in the middle. They will set more after an overnight trip in the fridge. When ready to serve, run a hot knife on the inside of the pan and release the cheesecakes.For the caramelized pineapple: in a large saute pan, melt the sugar over medium high heat until it starts to get a nice amber tone, add the butter, whisk to incorporate and add the pineapple slices. Let them cook 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the pan and place them on top of the cheesecakes. Use the pan sauce to serve with the cheesecakes if desired.

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comments:

Hi Helen- Beautiful pineapple dessert! And your photos are looking very, very fabulous too!By the way, I tagged you for a meme in my last post. I'm sure you have been tagged before because you have such a large audience but I've never read anything personal about you so I did it anyway. I hope you don't mind!

Look divine....we go through pineapples like crazy here. I have heard of tonka trucks but never tonka beans.....WHAT?? Is it possible I have been living under a rock???? apparently so....google search "tonka beans" is next on my list of things to do!!!

Helene-Lol! I guess when it rains, it pours at your house too! I would have been in pineapple heaven. I love them. When I was pregnant, that was the only thing I craved. I could eat a whole pineapple in one sitting! I sure would have loved one of those beautiful cheesecakes! They're lovely.

Gorgeous gorgeous! I love guys like your Mark Wahlberg lookalike - I have one who is always giving me fruit at the Market but unfortunately he is far from the Mark Wahlberg type. I like this and the caramelized pineapples are the cherry on the cake - I mean the pineapple of the cake of course.

- Could you send me your Sunny, you mother-in-law, you neighbor,and your delivery guy to my place. Lucky you! And lucky them to have you as well! The cheesecake looks AMAZING! I have never seen Tonka beans before; how do they taste like?

Wow~ I absolutely love the caramelized pineapple on top. They sure is purty!I don't use a lot of pineapple so I think you managed to make more pinapple dishes in a short time than I have in a lifetime~ I love the creativity!

Can you say Pineapple upside down cake? That is what the tops of your cheesecakes remind me of, and what I think I will go throw together right now! (Cause I wasn't planning on dessert tonight but now I need to have some.)

How tasty (and pretty). Loved the story about your pineapple accumulation.

I must admit I've gotten a bit snobby about my pineapples....Four years ago I went back to India, and ate very fresh, very sweet, perfectly ripened pineapple, from family lands. Unfortunately, nothing we get up here even comes close.

If I had that many pineapples, I would make pineapple jam (with spices like cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, star anise). My mom makes it whenever she sees pineapples on sale. It takes her a full two days to get a caramelised, thick pineapple jam which she tops her tarts with, like this one:http://lifesmorgasbord.blogspot.com/2008/01/worlds-smallest-pineapple-tart.html

Good use of all your pineapples. I found your site looking for caramelized pineapple as a way of dealing with extra. Last time I chopped, cooked and froze a bag, but wasn't all that happy with the result. Perhaps freezing caramelized pineapple? Usually if I really have too much, it's pineapple wine. We grow lovely "white pineapples" here in Hawaii.

Claudia: I agree, frozen pineapple is kind of bleh. I fear that freezing them caramelized is not going to help either as the caramelized sugar is going to melt and be runny once they are thawed.I am curious about pineapple wine! Please do tell!